Devil (2010)

Plot: In this edgy thriller, Det. Bowden must not only save five people trapped in an elevator — a mechanic, a young woman , an old woman, a guard and a salesman — but he must act fast because the devil is among them. Drew Dowdle and John Erick Dowdle direct M. Night Shyamalan’s story, which explores the notion that there are no coincidences.

My Review: I had NO idea when I rented this movie that it was an M. Night Shyamalan film. I’m really not a fan of his. I mean I liked the Sixth Sense enough, but all the other movies I’ve seen of his have been sorta crappy. Usually they are good until the end, or at least semi decent until something completely stupid happens. This was a little different. In this case I didn’t mind the movie too too much, but it wasn’t great. In fact it sorta reminded me a little of Black Out. Another movie which takes place in an elevator.

The movie seemed silly to me from the get-go. It starts with a cop sitting in a restaurant with another man. We find out the cop is a recovering alcoholic (later we find out what drove him to drink). They start talking about how everything happens for a reason – that there are no coincidences – and how the devil will take people out in groups always starting with a suicide and then ending with someone witnessing the death of a loved one. It’s a little silly.

Little while later there is a body found, its believed to have been a suicide. While the police are investigating the building where it occurred an Elevator with 5 people on it gets stuck. They are all acting weird from the get-go. They can be seen by security cameras, and hear security people, but they cannot be heard. Everyone seems to be acting weird, when suddenly the lights go out. When they come back on one woman has weird burn-like scratches on her back. Another has blood on them. They begin fighting, and the movie continues on like this till everyone but 1 is dead. During all of this the police are watching on the cameras trying to figure out who has done what, and what is going on inside, and a security guard explains to them that the devil must be among them, and he too tells the same story that the same cop heard earlier that morning.

Mainly the movie is all about these 5 people stuck in the elevator and the cops watching. But what annoyed me was WHY do the cops even care to sit and watch the monitor in the first place when they have a suicide to investigate? They freak out and start doing background checks on everyone in the elevator when the woman get’s scratched. Sure its weird, but not worth freaking out and doing background checks.

Anyhow, suspicion is on everyone stuck in there. Honestly, I thought it was rather obvious who it was. But I used that whole method of don’t expect the expected. And don’t underestimate the unexpected lol, which leaves most people continuously wondering. But for me it was easy to figure it out, and then later I was confused by a specific event which attempted to throw the viewer off. But in the end I was right. Of course you have the other real ending, the “twist” that isn’t really a “twist” but its there…and again I sorta expected.

In the end, I found the movie predictable (well for me) I figured out it would be “so & so” (don’t want to give that away) and in the end I was right. I didn’t connect WHY certain things were going on until a few minutes before it was exposed…

Some nitpicky things: Why do they not use their cell phones as flashlights from the beginning? Most people in this day & age would think of that right away. Even my husband who was watching with me suggested it from the time he knew people had cell phones on the elevator. Not only that, but you have two women with purses that don’t have a pen to write to the cops on the camera’s? I mean of course its possible. But I guess we are to believe everything was set in motion for a specific reason. . .

But overall the ending was just “blah” it wasn’t anything special and it wasn’t anything BAD. It just WAS. In fact I felt that way about the whole movie.

Gore/FX: There is some gore, but mainly the biggest thing involves a mirror. Nothing too crazy in this one.

Sexual Content: Nada.

Acting: I found the acting to be mediocre. The people in the elevator weren’t bad, but when it came to the cops and everyone else, it was kinda crappy acting to be honest.

Overall: As I stated before, the movie isn’t BAD, but its not GREAT. I honestly believe it could have been better. Maybe taken out all the coincidences, and put a couple new actors in and the movie would have been better. But for what it was I didn’t care for it much and its rather forgettable, as I’m posting this a month after watching it and barely remember it.